Railway-switch.



No. 69|,72o. Patented 1an. 2l, |902.

s. E. HAYNEs. 'RAILWAY swncn.

(Application led JAn. 5, 1901.) v (No Model.) l3 Sheets-Shoot .2.

l 'I Y liweoor,

No. 69u20. Huntsman. 2|, |902. G. E. HAYnEs.

RAILWAY swlrcn.

(Application led Jan. 5, 1901.)

THE N'onms PETERS co' PNorQ-LITNU.. wAsHlNGToN. D, n

` UNITEDv STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E; HAYNES, OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- `HALF TO WILLIAM MCCARTI-IY, OFv BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

RAILWAY-SWITCH. i

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 691,720, dated Januaryi21, 1902.

Application iiled January 5, 1901. Serial No.l 42,217. (llo model.)

scription, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing likeparts.

The present invention relates to an auto-` matic switch for railways, the purpose of the invention being to provide the switch With operating mechanism which can be actuated from the car as it travels along thetrack, the said mechanism being so arranged that when operated it will reverse the switch regardless of the position in which the switch may be. In other words, the'apparatus is so arranged that if the motorman sees that the switch is properly set he proceeds Without actuating the switch mechanism, but if he sees that it is not properly set he operates the actuating mechanism, which'results in reversing the switch. The switch will always remain in one position or the other and will be shifted in any event if the actuating mechanism is operated, regardless of the position in which it is at the time of operation.

The actuating mechanism may be operated upon by any suitable device carried by the car--such, for example, as a wheel normally standing above the level of the track, but

out of range of the wheels of the car, being,`

preferably, between the rails, and it is shown as arranged to be depressed by a roller or equivalent device carried by the car, the said device acting upon a switch-shifting member through the agency of an intermediate member, which is arranged to shift its position with relation to the initial actuating member at the end of each operation, so that the switch will be moved in one direction at one operation and in the opposite direction at the next operation, and so on. There is therefore no need of any selective controlling device to be operated by the motorman, because rectly operated by the movement of a rocker or oscillating member, and the lintermediate member is pivotally secured to said oscillating member at a point eccentric to the axis of oscillation, so that at each movement the` said intermediate member will be shifted lat-` erally with relation to the said oscillating member, so as to lie alternately in the paths of two members connected with the primary ac- A tuating device, one at cach side of the oscillating member, whereby said member will be shifted first in one direction and then in the other, as described.

Figure l is a transverse section of an apparatus embodying the invention, the principal operating parts being shown in elevation and the parts being shown in their normal position. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing theV parts in operation. Fig. 3 is a view, mainly in elevation, on a plane transverse to that of Figs. l and 2; Fig. 4, a similar view, mainly in section; and Fig. 5, a plan view of a section of the track to show the preferred arrangement of the actuating devices with relation to the switch.

The invention is herein shown as applied to a street-car system,in which the car is guided at a junction by means of a switchtongue a, pivotally supported in a frog having two rail-sections, the said switch-tongue being shifted by means of an oscillating member or shaft b, which is extended back some little distance from the switch to a point where it is acted upon by the initial actuating device c, so that the switch can be shifted by coperation with some part of a moving car before the said car reaches the switch.

As herein shown, the initial actuating device c consists of a depressible member preferably supported from and guided bya plate C, which constitutes the cover of a casing C2, which is below the track and between the rails thereof, the said casing being provided with a manhole and cover C3 to render the parts accessiblea The said device is further IOO provided with guide-wings c20,which travel in vertical guide-channels formed along the walls of the casing. The said member c is normally held flush with the surface of the road by means of a counterpoise c2 or equivalent device, which is shown as hung on the end of a lever c3, pivoted in lugs c4, which project downward from the cover C, the said lever being connected at its opposite end with lugs or projections c5, carried by the member c.

As herein shown, the lever is forked, so as to engage a projection c5 at each side of the member c, and each fork member is provided with an elongated slot c6 to afford the necessary play in compensating for the difference in direction of movement between the member c and lever c3. The said member may be depressed by any suitable means under the control of the motorman, each car being preferably provided with a roller A, (shown in dotted lines, Figs. l and 2,) which is normally above the level of the track, but which can be depressed in order to come in contact with the member c, the said roller being preferably provided with a springA2 of suiiicient strength to further depress the member c after it is in contact with the ground, so that the said roller can be pressed into firm con-- tact with the ground or surface before the member c is reached, the spring doing the work as the roller travels over the said member. In order that the said member c may always operate to reverse the switch regardless of the position in which the said switch is standing, it is arranged to operate upon an intermediate member d, which is pivotally connected at d2 with the oscillating member b and arranged to have a certain amount of lost motion between engaging portions of the said member. As herein shown, the member b consists of a shaft having a radial projecton b2, connected by a link b3 with the switch-tongue and having at its opposite end a disk b4, to which the member d is pivoted, the engaging portions being shown as shoulders b5 and b, cut across the face of the said disk. The said shoulders are arranged at such an angle to each other that the member d will when in its normal vertical position lie in contact with one of the shoulders, the position of the pivotal support determining which one.

To cooperate with the member d, the member c is shown as provided with two engaging portions c7 and o8, one at each side of the disk b4, and the member d is arranged to project into the path of one only of said members, according to the position of its pivotal support d2. In the position shown in Fig. l,

for example, the member d projects into the path of the member c7, so that when the member c is depressed the said member c7 will act upon one side only of the member d and will move the said member to the position shown in Fig. 2, correspondingly oscillating the disk b4 by the action of the member d upon the shoulder bf. The switch is thus shifted to the opposite position, and when the member c has been released and has returned to its normal position through the action of the weight c2 the member (l, which is also weighted, as indicated atl (Z3, will swing back to a vertical position; but owing to the shifting of its pivotal support d2 the opposite side of the said member d will lie in the path of the projection c8-t1 e., the whole member d will have been laterally shifted. The next time, therefore, that the member c is depressed the member b will be oscillated in the opposite direction to shift the switch. In swinging back to its vertical position, however, that portion of the member d which is to project into the pathof the corresponding depressing member will move into engagement with the side of the said depressing member, its

path of movement being indicated by the dotted line at the' left-hand side of Fig. l. In order to allow f or such movement, therefore, the members c7 and cs are pivotally connected with the member c and free to swing out of the path of the member d, as indicated in the dotted-line position of c7, Fig. l, the weight of the said members tending to keep them in vertical position, so that as soon as the member d has moved to its normal hanging position the member c7 or ce, as the case may be, will fall into position over the said member d. To prevent the said members from slipping off the member d when the member c is depressed, however, the device is shown as provided with guide-rollers e, adapted to prevent any lateral movement of the members o7 and ce, which are also prevented from slipping laterally in the opposite direction by the edge of the disk h4, which lies between them. As indicated, the said members are provided with flanges 070 and 080, which constitute weights to maintain the members vertical, said flanges being offset with relation to the guide-rollers e. It should also be noted that by somewhat heavily weighting the members c7 and cs they are caused to act as retarding devices for the member (Z when it swings back to normal posit-ion, (pushing aside one or the other of said members, as explained,) thus preventing the said member from throwing the switch in the opposite direction by momentum as it swings back into contactwith the other shoulder b, Fig. l, or b5, Fig. 2.

The member c is shown as provided with a protecting-hood c, which projects over the operating parts underneath for the purpose of protecting the said parts as far as possible from dirt or water which may enter through the opening in the cover C for the engaging portion of the member c. The member b is shown as having bearings in an inclosing tube C4, which extends from the case C to a smaller case C5, which contains the switch connections.

The construction herein shown and described is simple and occupies very little IOO space and is believed to constitute a thoroughly practical embodiment of the invention. Itis obvious, however, that the construction is susceptible of modification without departing from the invention, and it is not intended to limit the invention to such construction and arrangement.

I claim- 1. The combination with an oscillating operating member connected with the switch and provided with shoulders transverse toits axis; of an intermediate member pivotally connected with said oscillating member below vthe axis thereof and having a portion adaptcauses the intermediate member to move from the path of one of said engaging portions into the path of the other.

3. `The combination with the oscillating operating device connected with the switch; of engaging portions of'said operating device;

an intermediate member pivoted eccentrically uponl said operating device'and having lost motion between said engaging portions; i

and an actuating member havingtwo engaging progections, one at each side of the axis of said operating device, thek intermediatev member lying in the path of one or the other of said projections according tothe Vposition of the switch.

v4. The combination with the initial actuating device adapted to be operated from the car and provided with automatic restoring means and twopivotally-supported engaging projections; of an'oscillating 'operating device for the switch located between said engaging projections and provided with shoulders at an angle to each other; and an intermediate member pivotally supported upon said oscillating device and having a normally horizontal upper portion, adapted to bear against one or the other of said shoulders in accordance with the position of the oscillatingmember, the said upper portion correspondingly'projecting into the path ofone or the other of said engaging projections, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I` have signedV lmy name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

cEoEcE ELHAYNES.

Witnesses:

HENRY J. LivERMoRE, NANCY P. FORD. 

